XEP: The Wild Swans
by MoonRose91
Summary: And eleven princes were changed into eleven swans. And their change back relies on their little sister, the one and only princes of Acolyteian. Based, loosely, on the Hans Christian Anderson story of the same name.


**XEP, Moonrose Style**

**Disclaimer: I own myself. That's about it.**

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><p><strong>We now present…<strong>_**The Wild Swans**_

"Who are the princes?" Sam asked.

**Oh, we'll know in a bit.**

"Why am I worried?" Jamie mumbled.

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><p>Once upon a time, in a land far from here, there lived the great king, Erik…<p>

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><p>"Again?" Xavier questioned.<p>

**Once again, you do **_**not**_** want to be the King!**

"Do you enjoy abusing me?" Magneto questioned.

…**No.**

"I have a hard time believing you."

**I am not here to be believed. I am here to amuse myself with rewriting stories with X-men: Evolution characters. Plus some.**

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><p>…there lived a great king, Erik. He had eleven sons, Lance, Freddy, Todd, Pietro, Remy, Bobby, Sam, Ray, Roberto, Kurt, and, the youngest, Jamie.<p>

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><p><strong>Lance, one. Freddy, two. Todd, three. Pietro, four. Remy, five. Bobby, six. Sam, seven. Ray, eight. Roberto, nine. Kurt, ten. Jamie, eleven. Okay, good. I didn't screw up.<strong>

"Why do I have so many id…" Erik began, but was cut off quickly because of the writer.

**Heirs obviously. Death rates were high back then. On with the story!**

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><p>These eleven brothers were all good and intelligent, diligent in their studies…<p>

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><p><strong>Stop snickering!<strong>

Lance, Todd, Freddy, Pietro, Remy…all of the "brothers" except Kurt, Jamie, and Ray, were snickering. "Sorry…good _and _diligent in our studies?" Lance gasped out.

**Just shut up! I was being nice!**

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><p>…diligent in their studies. However, the brothers were all very wonderful and they deeply cared for their sister, Wanda.<p>

Wanda was good and pure. She enjoyed walking amongst the animals and playing with her brothers. However, they did not have a mother, who grew ill when Jamie & Wanda were still quite young, and eventually died. There was a great time of mourning throughout the kingdom. Eventually, Erik married again, because he felt that his children needed a motherly figure.

He married Mystique.

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><p>The snickering erupted into full on laughter, though wasn't joined by Wanda, who was glaring at the boys.<p>

**Oh, just shut up.**

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><p>Mystique, however, was infuriated by the goodness of the princes and princess. Mystique sent Wanda to live out in the country with…<p>

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><p>"Moonrose?" Kitty called.<p>

**What now? I haven't even gotten through the first page of the story!**

She eeped and pulled back slightly. "Um…well…it's a minor detail…"

**What?**

"Why is Wanda the heroine?" Kitty asked.

**Because I like Wanda and she deserves a break. And this princess actually has some gumption. And…well…stuff. It was a tie between Rogue and Wanda, but I picked Wanda in the end. Mostly because I think Rogue will attack me if I pair her with Remy again.**

"Damn straight," Rogue grumbled.

**On with the story! Next person who interrupts me, with exceptions, gets paired with Deadpool next session.**

"Somebody rang?" Deadpool called.

**Yeah. If they snicker, duct-tape them. Don't kill them, I need them.**

Silence reigned while Deadpool chuckled.

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><p>Mystique sent Wanda to live out in the country with Destiny. With that, she began to whisper poisoned words into the king's ear about his sons. Eventually, he grew tired of the sight of them and Mystique cast her cursed spell upon them. "Go out and make your way into the world! Go out on the wings of birds!" she chanted and changed the princes into birds.<p>

However, she did not change them into great ugly vultures, as she had hoped, but into great swans that gleamed. With a single sweep of silence, the eleven brothers soared into the sky, disappearing in the clouds. They flew until they reached the cottage where their sister, Wanda, dwelled. They stayed there all the night, sending her gentle dreams, before they flew away once more, to do as their curse commanded.

For, evil magic still held sway over them, and they were powerless against it.

The years passed slowly, and Wanda grew. Around the cottage in which she grew up, the wind often whispered. It drifted past the roses and asked, _"Roses, dear roses, who could ever be prettier then you?"_

And they replied, _"Wanda."_

The wind came and rustled the hymn-book held by Destiny, asking, _"Who could be more pious then you?"_

"_Wanda,"_ the hymn-book replied in the rustling of pages.

And it was the truth.

Finally, on her fifteenth birthday, Erik wished to see his daughter…

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><p>"Like hell!" Wanda exploded.<p>

**Just a story Wanda, just a story. That we wish was partially true. Don't worry, you're an exception.**

Wanda nodded and settled back.

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><p>Finally, on her fifteenth birthday, Erik wished to see his daughter and Mystique had Destiny bring the girl from the country. However, upon seeing how beautiful she was, Mystique grew furious.<p>

As she drew a bath for Wanda, she called forth three ugly frogs. "Sit on her hair and make her as stupid as you," she whispered, kissing the frog's head.

She picked up the next. "Sit on her forehead and make her as ugly as you," she murmured, kissing the frog's head.

"Sit on her heart and make her as twisted and evil as you," she finished and kissed this frog too.

The frogs then were tossed into the bath, turning the water green. With that, Mystique walked out and Wanda took a bath. One frog rested on her hair, the other on her forehead, and the last over her heart. However, as soon as they touched her, they turned into red poppies, for Wanda was too good, too smart, and too beautiful to be touched by such evil spells.

Mystique had made a mistake sending Wanda to live with Destiny, for it kept Wanda untouched by the evils of the world, while her brothers had seen pieces of it, allowing the spells to change them.

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><p>"Why am I evil?" Jamie pouted.<p>

**Oh, no sweetie! You just a bit more…world-knowledgeable. Not evil. He's also an exception, Deadpool.**

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><p>Mystique raged upon seeing that, she immediately dirtied the girl's face and matted her hair horribly. When presented to Erik, he did not recognize his daughter and sent her away. From there, she wandered out, only the loyal watch-dog and swallows knew who she was.<p>

Wanda wandered far and wide, until she came to a deep dark forest. As she rested on the ground, resting on the soft moss, she fell asleep. There, she dreamed of her brothers, instead of studying, writing about the places they had seen, almost all the world over. They played again, bright and warm, just like the old days.

When she awoke the next day, it was near noon. Wanda, being a resourceful girl, found a wild apple tree near a lake and washed off the apple the best she could, before working on splitting it open. Only then did she eat it, enjoying the meal.

She spent the entire day by the lake and…

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><p><strong>What Kitty?<strong>

"Well, this story has taken a _huge_ turn from the original tale," she pointed out.

**Yeah. I figure shoving God down people's throats takes away the enjoyment of the story.**

Silence reigned again.

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><p>Wanda spent the entire day by the lake and eventually night fell once more. Wanda slept below the apple tree, wondering what had possessed her to stay here, instead of wandering off to find her brothers. When she woke the next morning, an elderly woman was standing there, a basket of berries over her arm.<p>

"Morning child. I am Agatha. Join me in breakfast?" Agatha greeted.

Wanda agreed and the pair settled next to the tree. Over the course of the breakfast, Agatha said that she had seen eleven white swans gliding down the river a ways away, before taking flight again. Wanda wondered if this would lead her to her brothers, and Agatha wandered away, wishing Wanda luck on her journey.

Before Wanda could even begin to go forth on her journey, eleven swans glided across the lake. She remembered the Language of Birds that Destiny had taught her…

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><p><strong>What now?<strong>

"Why don't I just use my powers?" Wanda asked.

**Basically powerless. Lance has a strong connection with the earth instead of creating earthquakes, causing him to be the worst flier, though still a white swan. Freddy is the largest, as seen in a minute, and a white swan. Todd is…well, he is a black swan because I couldn't resist and I wanted just one. Not reflecting on Todd at all, but I wanted one black swan. Just one. Pietro is the fastest, most brilliantly white swan. Remy as his red on black eyes. Bobby is actually a frosty blue. Sam is the one that is a bit awkward, sorry Sam. Ray has little rooster cut coming up from the top of his head. Roberto has a solar tint to him. Kurt is blue-gray with gold eyes. Jamie is the youngest looking one, with pale gray feathers.**

"Seriously?" Wanda questioned.

**I put a lot of thought into that, okay?**

"So…I can't have my powers?"

**Sorry Wanda. And Deadpool, no!**

"Can't I do anything?" Deadpool pouted.

**Eventually.**

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><p>She remembered the Language of Birds Destiny that had taught her, and spoke to the oddest swan she had ever seen, but reminded her so much of her eldest brother, Remy. He was a handsome white swan, though not as brilliant white as the one that seemed to take great enjoyment of racing around, with red on black eyes. "Dear swan, can you tell me if you have seen eleven princes in your travels?" she called to them.<p>

She was surprised when he answered back in Remy's voice, "Dear sister, it is us! Our step-mother has cursed us to be swans to travel the world," he explained, and Wanda let out a cry of joy.

They all hugged each other and the brothers explained how they were forced to travel all over the world. When they had, the curse would be half-broken. When the sun would fall, they would become human again, but when the sun rose, they would be swans.

They had no knowledge how to break the second half so they could remain princes. That night, they were a family again. Freddy cooked, and it was a great night. That night, they agreed to take Wanda with them across the sea and, hopefully, they would reach the island in the middle of the sea.

Wanda was overjoyed at the prospect and, as they settled to sleep the rest of the night away. With the first rays of light, the brothers became swans again.

Luckily, Freddy was a very large swan, large enough to carry a person with ease, and they flew away into the sky, Freddy easily carrying Wanda on his back. They flew across the tops of the trees…

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><p>"They were already at the sea. And it was a rock, not an island," Kitty interrupted.<p>

**Deadpool, lock her in a closet. Make sure she can breathe.**

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><p>They flew across the tops of the trees and were soon gliding over the ocean. Wanda was amazed by the great expanse. At first, the twelve were not worried about such a thing. However, they soon realized that the journey to the island was taking a bit longer than it should have.<p>

Freddy picked up speed and Pietro decided to race ahead, trying to see how far they were from their destination. The others privately worried, but Wanda knew what the problem was. "Are you sure this was such a good idea?" she asked, even if it was a bit late to ask.

"Of course petite," Remy answered, before sailing up. The sun was beginning to hang low in the sky and Remy grew even more worried. He did not want his sister to go plunging into the sea.

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><p>"I don't want to die either," Remy muttered.<p>

**Yeah, but in this one, you have a sister. Who you care about more than life itself.**

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><p>He saw Pietro ahead and nearly heaved a sigh of relief. With that, they picked up speed and just managed to land on the island before the sun fell below the sky. Lance seemed overly-relieved to be on land again, practically kissing it. "I hate flying," he groaned.<p>

"We know," the brothers all stated in a voice that suggested he often said this.

Remy then got a mischievous and cruel smile, adding, "And we have to fly tomorrow too."

Lance groaned at the thought and Wanda wondering how he had survived this long, being forced to fly around the world. Remy chuckled and the siblings eventually settled down to sleep again, the storm making the island even smaller then it was when they landed.

By the time morning arrived, the sea had stilled and when the first rays of the sun raced across the sky, the brothers were once again swans. With a great beat of their wings, they flew out. Lance seemed unwillingly to leave the ground and Sam had a bit of trouble getting off the ground, crashing into Todd who smacked Sam back.

This started another fight between the brothers and, eventually, they were all on their way.

As they travelled, Wanda saw in the distance icy mountains that rose toward the sky, stabbing the great blue beyond. As they flew even closer, the sinking sun caught all the other places of marvel and gave the great effect of making it seem like the great castle was on fire…

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><p>"Oh, oh! I'm in the castle, aren't I shelia?" Sin Jin exclaimed, jumping up and down.<p>

He had abandoned his quest to introduce Mr. Flickers to Scott.

**Possibly.**

"You paired me up with the firebug?" Wanda demanded.

**I could have paired you up with Sabertooth.**

Silence reigned.

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><p>They flew low and slowly came into land, barely making it in time before they all became human again. The landing jarred Wanda and Pietro, being the fastest, kept her from crashing back into the sea.<p>

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><p>Wanda snorted, but otherwise did not comment.<p>

"Are you _trying_ to get me killed?" Pietro exclaimed.

**It's a story, not real life. Yeesh.**

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><p>Wanda stared across the waves and was in awe of the beauty. The rest of her brothers surrounded her and Jamie wormed his way so he could stand in front of Wanda, securing his place as the youngest. "Come on little sister. We have to show you something," Remy interrupted and Wanda sighed, before she followed after the eldest brother.<p>

As they walked away from the shore, they began to head into the forest. Fred kept a look-out with Todd, while Sam and Bobby seemed to be back at their old antics. Pietro was the farthest ahead, while Lance was barely within sight, occasionally kneeling to the ground like he was trying to divine answers from the earth itself.

Jamie was cheerfully holding Wanda's hand and he seemed to tell her about the forest they were in. Kurt, Roberto, and Ray seemed content to be taking an aerial look out of sorts, moving around in the tops of the trees.

After many miles of walking, the night half gone, they reached a cottage that had nettles growing all around it. "This used to belong to a woodsman, but he did not have much luck. We shall live here until we find a way to break the curse," Remy explained.

Wanda nodded and all of the siblings turned in.

That night, Wanda had a dream. In the dream, she was back at the lake…

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><p>Muffled protests from the closet can be heard, interrupting the story once more.<p>

**Kitty, I don't care how far off the story this is! Stop screaming from inside the closet about it! Besides, this is partially based off a newer version of the story, where they did, in fact, sleep in a woodsman's cottage, not a cave, all right? So…SHUT IT!**

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><p>That night, Wanda had a dream. In the dream, she was back at the lake and the old woman, Agatha, was sitting next to her. In the basket, instead of breakfast, there were nettles. "If you have only courage and perseverance, you can save your brothers. True, water is softer than your own delicate hands, and yet it polishes stones into shapes; it feels no pain as your fingers would feel, it has no soul, and cannot suffer such agony and torment as you will have to endure. Do you see the stinging nettle which I hold in my hand? Quantities of the same sort grow round the cottage in which you sleep, but none will be of any use to you unless they grow around this cottage or upon the graves in a churchyard. These you must gather even while they burn blisters on your hands. Break them to pieces with your hands and feet, and they will become flax, from which you must spin and weave eleven coats with long sleeves; if these are then thrown over the eleven swans, the spell will be broken. But remember, that from the moment you commence your task until it is finished, even should it occupy years of your life, you must not speak. The first word you utter will pierce through the hearts of your brothers like a deadly dagger. Their lives hang upon your tongue. Remember all I have told you," Agatha explained and then touched the nettle to Wanda's hand.<p>

She woke in the daylight, her brothers already gone. At first, she suspected it to be just dream, until she saw that in her hand was the nettle from the dream and just past that was the basket. She immediately collected the basket and rushed out, beginning to collect as many nettles as she could. They burned and stung her hands, but still she pulled them up.

No matter how many she pulled up, the basket never filled and soon there was only a few nettles remaining. She left them so they may grow more plentiful and she sat at the threshold of the cottage. Only then did she begin to work, making the flax and working on creating the elegant coats.

The first was for her eldest brother Remy, and she thought of the coat he once wore, modeling it after her memory. It was finished before night had truly fallen, and Wanda turned to making a coat for Lance. When her brothers returned that night, Wanda tried to hide the pain she was in from them.

Mostly because she did not need them coddling her or worrying about her.

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><p>"Thank you," Wanda stated.<p>

**Welcome. Um…where did Deadpool go?**

"You just noticed he was missing?" Logan questioned.

**If I say 'no', you wouldn't believe me, so I'll just say that 'I am leaning towards a positive response for that question.'**

"He said he was bored."

**Oh. Did he leave the keys to get Kitty out of the closet?**

"She's _locked_ in there?" Logan snapped.

**She got on my nerves, okay? You can break her out after the story. It's not like she can't breathe in there. Well…unless Deadpool duct-taped over her nose or something.**

Logan rushes off to make sure Kitty is safe.

**On with the story.**

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><p>At first, her brothers thought her lack of speech was due to their evil step-mother casting another spell. This made Wanda realize she really should have waited for her brothers before just jumping into her work. Since she was an intelligent young woman, she showed them her hands.<p>

This made the brothers realize what she was doing and, naturally, the machoness of the elder brothers thought that it was not worth their sister's pain (aka, they did not want to be saved by a girl, even if she is their sister). The youngest brother, Jamie, however became incredibly saddened that Wanda was going through this for them and cried.

As his tears hit her hands and feet, they immediately healed.

The brothers then swore to protect their sister as best as they could. One was always with her, even as the other brothers went off to get food and the like.

Wanda worked tirelessly, finishing a coat and a half a day. By the time she had finished her fourth coat, she was exhausted and took the smallest of breaks. The brother of the day who was watching her, Lance, sensed the huntsmen coming and tried to awaken Wanda, but to no avail and had to hide, for in his swan form, he could end up dead.

She awoke suddenly when the dogs rushed into the clearing, tags wagging. They greeted her enthusiastically, and bayed for the huntsmen. The huntsmen rode into the clearing, led by the unwed King himself, Sin Jin…

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><p>"YES! I get to be a king!" Sin Jin exclaimed and then paused. "Do I get to burn anything?"<p>

**Sadly, no.**

"What?" he screeched and then went into pout mode.

**Onward then.**

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><p>The huntsmen rode into the clearing, led by the unwed King himself, Sin Jin. The minute he saw Wanda, he was in love. He dismounted from his horse and walked up to Wanda, who seemed shocked that anyone was addressing her. She blinked as Sin Jin knelt in front of her. "Beautiful lady, come with me to my palace and be my queen?" he proposed.<p>

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><p>"I like this story again," Sin Jin stated, wrapping an arm around Wanda.<p>

He was promptly hexed, but Wanda wore a small smile that suggested that she hadn't entirely disliked the contact. "Stay away from my woman, yo!" Todd snapped.

Wanda's eyes blazed. "What did you call me?" she snarled.

**One hex for Todd coming right up.**

"Damn straight!" Wanda growled and powered up both her hands.

Todd had the good sense to 'eep' and run. Wanda immediately took after him, hexing him into walls.

…**Wonderful. On with the story.**

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><p>Wanda looked away. She could not answer him and the king, which made sense considering his clothing choice. And the fact he knelt down in the dirt without a care for these clothes suggested it.<p>

Wanda's heart was torn, however, between trying to explain that she could not speak and that she needed to stay here. So, she shook her head…

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><p>"That did not happen!" Kitty shouted.<p>

**Artistic License! That's it, I'm pairing you up with someone you hate!**

"Oh?" Kitty responded, almost challenging.

**Pietro, guess what? You get to be the 'main prince' next. I really shouldn't count this time, since I was picking guys to be the filler. No offense, the only one I really thought about was Jamie.**

"That makes it sound like Jamie is the main prince," Remy complained.

**That's because he really is. I just gave you a lot of lines because the eldest prince, that's you, talks a lot.**

"You mean, little Jamie, is the main prince?" Remy whined.

**Yes. The youngest prince gets the most important part.**

Remy's whining were then ignored and the story continued.

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><p>Wanda shook her head and waved her hand to her work. She winced a bit as his gasp, knowing that he was now going to try and coddle her. And even if she found the man with the flame hair attractive, she wasn't going to go running off to <em>marry<em> him. It was highly unreasonable.

"At least come to my palace and live with me? There we can get to know each other and I would never think of pulling you from the work you do so dutifully," he pleaded.

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><p>"Seriously? This is now gone off on some weird little story that is borrowing from <em>The Wild Swans<em>?" Kitty pouted.

**I like to think the king was kind enough to think of his subjects, instead of going all "Well, I'm King and you have to marry me." Besides, there are so many versions of this story. What's one more?**

Kitty fell silent.

**I'm also making this princess more 'I can take care of myself'. And if we're going to go into the Little Mermaid, it's going to be a mix of Disney and original. Original because, hey, she went through a **_**lot**_** for her man and Disney because I am a sucker for happy endings. That or I could just mess with the story line again to piss off Kitty.**

Wanda and Rogue snickered.

**It's quite fun. Now, if There are no more interruptions…ON WITH THE STORY!**

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><p>Wanda was torn and finally, she agreed. Sin Jin smiled widly and lifted her onto his horse. He handed her the basket and the four coats. He then mounted up behind her…<p>

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><p>Immature snicker and guffaws from the peanut gallery ensue.<p>

**That's it! Rogue, you take Gambit, Wanda, you got Toad and Sin Jin. Kitty, you've got Avalanche. Pietro, you are dead!**

The immature snickers and guffaws stopped as the boys amused with the expression used above took off, followed by their lovely ladies chasing them off. Pietro was locked in a mysterious box that appeared and he couldn't get out of.

**Now, on with the story.**

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><p>With Sin Jin sitting grandly on his horse, easily keeping Wanda from falling off, the hunting group rode back to the castle. Above, Lance kept a shaky flight, so he would be able to tell his brothers where their sister had gone.<p>

Once at the palace, a handmaiden was assigned to Wanda. Her name was Rogue and she helped show Wanda around mostly. Well, she also helped her into any court garments for the courtly functions she might be forced to attend, but Rogue was mostly her friend.

And despite Wanda being mute, the two became fast friends.

Actually, in a span of a day.

Particularly when a white swan landed in Wanda's room and seemed to rest his head in great relief upon the ground. Wanda smiled at the swan and Rogue promised not to tell. Rogue even got the swan some food and water.

While out and about, she heard the king's adviser, Victor…

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><p>"Do <em>not<em> call me by that name," Victor snarled.

He snarled louder when he realized the person writing this story was going to ignore him.

**Everyone gets called by their non-mutant names until I say so.**

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><p>While out and about, she heard the king's adviser, Victor, accusing Wanda of witchcraft to have ensnared his senses so. There were plenty of princesses out there for him to choose from and he did not need to choose some girl from the woods.<p>

Sin Jin ignored him and only responded that he loved her and would marry her, if she would have him.

Victor was enraged and Rouge hurried back with food, as well as water, for the swan. "The adviser, Victor, has it out for you," she warned Wanda, settling the bowls before the swan.

She then settled on a stool next to Wanda and watched her work away on her coats. "Do you want to know how I know you aren't a witch?" Rogue asked suddenly.

Wanda hesitated, and then nodded a bit. "It's because you have a swan that follows you. Swans can't stand to be near evil, you know. They screech and beat their wings at it. Even if they aren't really swans," she explained.

Wanda smiled a bit and continued her work in ease. Rogue was okay company. Once they had established who they were, in some way, Rogue was happy to stay quiet.

Two days later, however, at the seventh coat, she had run out of flax. She immediately began to panic, realizing she had no way of getting out so she could pick more nettles. Considering she had a lack of sleep for she worked through the nights to finish her brothers' coats, it was understandable that she started crying.

Lack of sleep does that.

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><p>"You're trying to save yourself from Wanda's wrath, aren't you?" Pietro asked.<p>

**How did you get out of the box?**

"Wanda let me out," he responded.

"Also known as; I was aiming for Toad, missed, and hit the box instead," Wanda supplied.

**Gotcha.**

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><p>Rogue immediately moved to comfort her and then saw the empty basket. She immediately grasped Wanda's wrists and gently pulled her up. "I know how to get out of the palace," she reassured her new friend and the pair snuck out.<p>

They went down the back way, past Kitty, who Rogue waved at and even spared the tiniest of smiles for, before continuing out. They slipped out the back entrance, Kitty letting them borrow some servants' cloaks, and they rushed out into the night.

Wanda made her hands into a steeple shape and Rogue understood, leading her to the church. From there, they slipped into the graveyard and Wanda collected as many nettles as she could. Rouge kept watch, but missed Victor who was hiding out in the shadows. He had come to pay respects to his illegitimate…

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><p>A growl ripped through the air from Victor.<p>

**I wasn't going to say the name!**

Silence reigned once more.

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><p>He had come to pay respects to his illegitimate son, whom he had killed himself, when he saw Wanda and Rogue. He nearly laughed in triumph of how to get King Sin Jin to realize his lady love was a witch. Or at least get Wanda out of his way of becoming King himself.<p>

And he could get rid of that annoying handmaiden as well. The one that wasn't afraid of him. Her and her two-tone hair. She was obviously a witch and now he could get rid of both of them.

Victor smirked cruelly as the pair slipped back away into the palace.

The next day, Victor told King Sin Jin what he saw and Sin Jin refused to believe that it was true.

Two days later, it repeated. Wanda had only collected enough for three more coats, leaving the youngest, Jamie, without one. She mentally berated herself, before collecting up her basket. Rogue refused to let her go alone and the pair made their way into the church's graveyard once more.

This time, however, Sin Jin was practically dragged by Victor and a few guards, including the head of the guards, Logan, who hated Victor with a passion. He wanted nothing more than to kill the adviser, but he could not.

And when he saw his Stripes, his favorite of his, unofficial, trainees…

* * *

><p>"Damn straight. I'm not letting any of the girls go without protection," Logan gruffed.<p>

**Yes, we know you're a big softy at heart. Continuing with the story. It's almost done, seriously!**

* * *

><p>And when he saw Stripes, as he called Rogue, the favorite of his unofficial trainees, his heart nearly stopped. He almost threw himself at Victor, but managed to contain himself, while Sin Jin slumped.<p>

He let out the most heart-broken sigh ever uttered by any man and gave the command to have them arrested, then tried, as witches.

Rogue and Wanda tried to fight them off, Rogue nearly succeeding, until Logan himself had to step in. And with a heavy heart, he threw the pair into the dungeons. Rogue managed to get him to agree to send Kitty with the coats they were working on.

She did, crying over the fate her best friend was going to have. Rogue gave her version of comfort, while Wanda worked on the last coat, hoping to finish before their execution. However, with less flax, Wanda could only thank the stars above that her youngest brother was the smallest and she was less likely to run out for him.

What was counting against her was time and lack of nettles. Rogue tried to find a way to break out so Wanda could get more nettles. Whatever it was, it was important.

As the dawn of their doom approached, Wanda found she was having a harder time making the coat due to the pain in her hands. Outside their window, a great swan with red on black eyes beat against the window of the cells. "Stop flappin' your wings and get help you overgrown puffball!" Rogue shouted, earning a smile from Wanda at the way she insulted her eldest brother.

For a moment, the swan with the red-on-black eyes seemed completely captivated by Rogue, before shaking his head and taking off.

Remy met up with his brothers and explained the situation. They soared over the wall and landed at the front door. When night fell, they began to pound on the castle doors, demanding to see the king. They could explain it, but only before the sun rose.

However, in his depression on having to sentence his one true love to burn at the stake…

* * *

><p>"I'm sad about Wanda dying, not the fire," Sin Jin corrected.<p>

**Of course Sin Jin.**

"Is that a patronizing tone?"

**No. I was just agreeing.**

* * *

><p>However, in his depression about having to sentence his one true love to burn at the stake, he had gone to bed early and was already deeply asleep. The servants tried to quiet the eleven princes, but they refused to quiet, demanding to the see the king.<p>

But, it was too late. By the time the king rose, the princes were swans again and they took to the sky.

The girls were loaded up into a cart to be lead to their burning and, as they were pulled through the crowd, they jeered at them. They threatened to take Wanda's hard work and fuel the fire with it. Rogue let out a snarl and moved to defend her hard work, but it was not needed.

The swans, Wanda's brothers, swooped down and beat their wings at the crowd, omitting Lance and Sam, who were just going to sit next to the girls. And all the while, Wanda worked on the final coat, frantic that it would not be finished in time.

Rogue shoved her way to the front so she would be taken first, giving Wanda enough time to finish the coat. However, Wanda realized that she did not have enough flax for the final sleeve, but she had to risk it.

She had gone without sleep for eight days, had barely eaten, and had very little water. Her eyes were blurring and she barely had the strength to throw the coats over the eleven swans, turning them all into princes. Even little Jamie, who had one swan wing instead of an arm because she could not finish his coat.

Wanda then stood tall and cried, "I am innocent! And so is Rogue. She refused to let me go alone in the night. I remained silent to save my brothers, who my stepmother placed an evil curse over. They are free…and so am I."

And with that she collapsed in a dead faint.

Because, lack of sleep, little food, and little water does that to a person.

Logan immediately freed Rogue, who shoved the brothers out of the way to check on her friend. Kitty shoved her way through the crowd to check on Rogue, and was aided onto the platform by Lance. Sin Jin, naturally, raced to Wanda's side as well and begged for forgiveness.

They then rushed her to the palace and Victor was thrown in jail to be executed by Logan, who did so with the _greatest_ of pleasure. The brothers, omitting Remy, Lance, and Jamie, returned home to tell their father what happened.

Jamie stayed because he saw Rogue as the mother he never remembered and Wanda as the sister he always had, so he wanted to stay with them. Lance stayed because he fell in love with Kitty, so he gave up his right to the possible throne to be with her. Remy stayed in an attempt to woe Rogue, who was more then happy to deflate his ego every chance she got.

And he gave her plenty.

Eventually, Sin Jin and Wanda married, with great rejoicing throughout the kingdom.

* * *

><p><strong>The end! Finally. Dear God, do you people know how long that story is?<strong>

"Non," Remy stated, with a little pout.

Probably because he wasn't really paired with Rogue, but Rogue didn't look to happy either.

**4,306 words, for the story. Just about. And that doesn't include interruptions and when I had to repeat some lines. And one Word, this story is **_**nineteen**_** pages long! **_**Nineteen**_**! NINE PAGES OF COMMENTARY!**

"Desole," Remy muttered.

**Oh, your not sorry. Anyway, I got to think of the next story in which I get to torment Kitty for interrupting the most. And I've got to have Deadpool have his moment to shine.**

"Somebody called?" Deadpool stated, sticking his head in.

**Done maiming and killing?**

"Never!" he shouted in protest.

**Great, got a job for you then. Hunt me out a story where you get to kill people.**

Deadpool saluted and rushed off.

**And I mean a real one!**

"You sure that was wise?" Logan questioned.

**No, but it keeps him busy.**


End file.
